


Eyes on the Road

by lionessvalenti



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Banter, Ficlet, Gen, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24801979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: Sam wonders why Bucky doesn't want to take the shield.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23
Collections: Sun and Storm in Every Blossoming: Comment Fest for Black MCU Characters





	Eyes on the Road

It sat in the backseat of the car with a weighty presence. Sam kept flicking his eyes at the rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of the shield, as if it would roll away in the moving vehicle. It wasn't going anywhere. It was his, right where he left it in the backseat.

"Did you want it?" Sam asked, before he could stop himself. He'd stopped himself so many times already.

Bucky was slouched in the passenger seat, one foot braced against the dashboard. If this had been Sam's car, he wouldn't have let shoes on the dash, but it wasn't Sam's car. It was a rental. He lolled his head to the side to look at Sam, then looked over his shoulder at the shield. He looked back at Sam.

"No."

"No?" Sam tried not to sound too surprised, but he failed.

"Some people are heroes and some aren't." Bucky gazed out the window at the passing scenery. It was all rock walls from where they had cut through mountains to build the highway. Trees and bushes grew from the cracks in the rock in flashes of green. Life went on, it seemed.

"And that's it? Heroes and not heroes?"

"Maybe a sidekick. Isn't that my thing? Following around Captain America?" Bucky didn't give Sam a chance to answer. He barreled right past the rhetorical question into, "Why? Getting cold feet?"

"I don't know. I keep thinking about all the ways I can mess this up, and... I'm not Steve. I don't know if I can do it the way he did."

Bucky squinted at Sam. "You can't. You won't. You're never going to do the stuff he did because you're not going to be Steve. He didn't give it to you because he thought you'd make the choices he would make. He gave it to you because he trusted that the choice you would make would be the right ones. Even if they might not be the right ones for him. You're Captain America. Not Steve Rogers."

Sam paused. He readjusted his hands on the wheel, giving himself a second to breathe. "And why not you?"

"Because I don't know what I want. I spent two years trying to figure out what I wanted, and all I had to show for it was a goat farm. I don't even know if I want to be a hero. You were on a path. It was leading to this." Bucky shrugged with one shoulder. "You're going to find your own way of doing this. And maybe I'll go back to the goats."

"Or you could stay."

"I was kidding about being your sidekick. I'm not going to play second fiddle to you, Wilson." Bucky shot him a sarcastic grin. "I'd rather go back to the farm."

"Not a sidekick," Sam clarified. "A partner. Steve was always building a team. Commandos, Avengers, a couple of stray cats willing to go on the run with him. He never worked alone if he could help it. And I don't want to work alone either."

"Two people aren't a team."

"It's a start."

Bucky was still smiling when Sam glanced over at him again. Bucky caught him looking. "I'll think about it. Keep your eyes on the road, Cap."

Sam smiled and looked ahead. It was the direction they were going.


End file.
